Batu Caves (13km north of Kuala Lumpur) 26.01.10

We're pretty savvy and catch a local bus out to the caves, through the northern outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, where new highrise apartments dominate and the roads get much better. The bus drops us in front of the entrance gates to the caves which house many Hindu temples.

There's a gigantic gold idol which has been erected next to the 227 steps which lead to the entrance to the caves and this is as tall as the limestone cliff face itself. The giant holes in the limestone crags were once used as a prison when the communists were in power in Malaysia, then it was taken by the British who sold it on to the Hindus to build a temple inside. It's a bizarre place. The floor of the cave has been levelled with concrete, obviously having destroyed the stalactites which would've been present, in the process.

Along the sides of the cave there are hindu idols, shrines and even two small temples, where we witness Hindus paying their respects and being 'tagged' on the forehead with white and red paint. We're saddened by the amount of litter present all the way up the steps and in the sacred areas themselves. It's quite a contrast to the immaculate Islamic mosques in the green belt area of town. Many women are beautifully dressed in embroidered saris with makeup and jewellery to match as they make their pilgrimage in bare feet with their husbands and children. On the way back into town we stop at a batik craft studio to have a look at some work being done because it's the national textile style in Malaysia.

The large silk frames are suspended at hip height and the artists are deftly painting out wax outlines of exotic flowers and leaves and filling them in with blended dye fading to the edges. The assistant shows us the fixing process out back where the cloth is dipped in sodium silicate, then washed through, then the wax is removed by boiling with soda ash added to the water. I purchase a couple of chanting tools, take photographs for reference with the intent to get set up for batik at home when I return. It's an effective style which can be easily reproduced at home with a simple pot of melting wax over an electric hot plate. I must find out the type of dye used however. We take the monorail to Chow Kit Chinese food market in the north of town where the walk through the undercover stalls presents a feast for the eyes, from the fresh squid and still moving catfish to the rows of hot chillies and ox legs hanging out to dry. The stall owners particularly like Greg's Aussie hat and call out to him 'cowboy!' and 'crocodile dundee!'. He can take a bit of jovial teasing and smiles back, saying he's definitely not Australian or American and vows to reconsider whether to wear the hat again!